Excellent
by InsecteanSean
Summary: A few members of the NightShadows Linkshell lend their aid to the Besieged city of Al Zahbi. It seems a normal enough excursion, except for the unsettling feeling that they're being watched...
1. Yalosraf

"It is believed the trolls shall descend on Al Zahbi this night," Shurtugal remarked, as casually as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Excellent," sneered Yalosraf, who was sitting beside him on a box outside the Whitegate residential area. No wonder the poor people of Al Zahbi didn't trust these rogue adventurer types! But Yalo had a few new tricks up his sleeve, and nothing pleased him more than teaching evil beastmen the error of their ways.

"Indeed," replied Shurtugal, thinking very similar thoughts.

* * *

They entered Al Zahbi that night as the civilians were leaving the commoner's ward for refuge. Yalosraf paused as he overheard a Galka boy eagerly chattering away to an adult Galka.

"And the trolls have the best equipment of all the beastman armies!" the boy was saying as the two walked along.

"Yep, and all thanks to the Moblins, I hear," the older Galka explained. "The Moblins gave the trolls all their fancy guns and big metal helmets." He smiled as the child's eyes widened in amazement.

"Wow! Can I have a big troll helmet? The trolls won't need them anymore when we're done with them!"

"I don't think so," the older one chuckled, "unless you want to come out and get one yourself!"

When the child didn't respond, the adult stopped the child. "Look at me," he commanded, serious now. "I did not mean that seriously. Do not even _think_ about sneaking out; it is far too dangerous out here when the beastmen come."

"Even for you?" asked the child, with still a little hope in his eyes.

"Even for me," the other replied, with a tone of finality that erased that hope.

The younger Galka hung his head a bit as the two walked away again.

Yalo wanted to cheer the kid up somehow, but Shurt was calling him from up ahead, sounding anxious. He hurried to catch up. Shurt was right; the beastmen would arrive any minute.

* * *

"Why me? Why must I shoulder such responsibility? I owe you nothing!"

"Oh, we know you better than that. We know it doesn't really matter to you whether you owe us or not. Saving the lives of thousands of innocent people has nothing to do with any debt to us. Your own sense of honor will not let you refuse."

"That doesn't explain why you cannot choose another! Surely there are others of my skill who have more personal attachment to the city. I do not even live here!"

The plaintive look he received told him enough. A large sack was held out to him. In the distance the alarms were sounding and the declaration of martial law in Al Zahbi could be heard.

"You should hurry. The beastmen are arriving."

With a grim expression he took the sack and walked out the door.

* * *

"Here they come!" Shurt exclaimed. He and Yalo were watching as beastmen poured into the main square, to be met head on by the defenders.

"Let's do it!" yelled Yalo. And with that they charged into the fray. But before they got to the fighting, Yalo stopped. He thought he heard something, something terribly familiar, coming from the side. He turned to see a giant flying beast enter the square, and his guess was confirmed. The beast was coming towards him. Eyes narrowing, he drew his daggers, and waited.

If the Wamoura was anything more than a mindless beast of war, it may have hesitated at that moment. It may have seen in Yalo's eyes the hatred so fierce that it nullified all rational thought. It may have sensed that hatred that shatters the boundaries to which one would normally subject oneself in the interest of staying alive. But the Wamoura was oblivious to such things, and it immediately closed in on the Tarutaru, who merely stood, waiting.

"What the hell are you doing, Yalo?!" Shurt called from across the square. But Yalo didn't hear. All he heard at that moment was the beating of the gigantic wings and the hiss of steam from the thing's mouth. He knew those sounds came only from that loathsome monstrosity, that reviled foe, the Wamoura. And he wanted it dead.

He rolled right under the beast as it swooped down for its first strike, springing up behind it before it realized where he went. As the thing paused, Yalo flipped his daggers over in his hands, and, now holding the blades, invoked a quick incantation. When he flipped them back, they shimmered and swirled, magically coated with a thin layer of water.

The Wamoura turned around to meet two quick slices to the face. The beast was trained for such encounters, and it quickly lifted its head out of range of its diminutive assailant with only a small scratch to show for its error. But that scratch _hurt_! Steam hissed loudly from the wound as the water from the blades did its work.

Infuriated, the Wamoura countered with an attack of its own, an erratic flutter of its wings, raining fire down on Yalo. Yalo had prepared for this, however, and thanks to his protective spells the searing heat was merely uncomfortably warm. Such magic has its limits, though; he would have to be more careful now.

Next, the Wamoura came at him fast—impossibly fast—with several swipes of its legs, pushing Yalo back and off balance as he struggled to parry and dodge. Noticing something amiss, Yalo purposely fell onto his back, muttering something, and threw a dark magic spell at the Wamoura, which slowed down considerably as whatever magic had increased its speed was dispelled. Yalo rolled away from the next strike—a fierce lunge aimed at the seemingly helpless Tarutaru—but was berated by the wings and badly burned. Yalo too was in a primal fury, however, and this only served to ignite his rage. He sliced viciously at the wings as they rose away again, tearing a large hole in the lower one, then sprung to his feet as the Wamoura shrieked in pain.

Grinning at the Wamoura's pain and through his own, Yalo began the motions and chant of a Ninjutsu spell, while the beast tried to regain its balance in the air. When the Wamoura finally gave up the use of its lower wings and turned to focus on the Tarutaru again, there were now four of the little humans, snarling up at it. Even the Wamoura could tell which was real, as three of them flickered and wavered, mere magical shadows. But when it swooped down at Yalo again, one of them promptly dove in its path and blocked the strike, disappearing. Meanwhile the real Yalo responded with a quick and painful stab in the jaw. Frustrated and with steam once again coming out of its face, the Wamoura reared and violently spat a large stream of magma that engulfed all three remaining Tarutarus, destroying the fakes and sending Yalo flying, ablaze, into a wall.

Yalo landed on hands and knees, pushed himself up into a kneeling position, and began a healing spell to keep him going. But he was interrupted as the angry Wamoura slammed into him, sending him crashing again into the wall. This time he landed sprawled out, face down, and this time it was not so easy to get up. As a last resort, he rolled onto his back and pulled out a strange white drink and drank as much of it as he could before the thing struck again. When it did, swiping once more with its legs, a hiss of confusion escaped its damaged face, as the attacks glanced harmlessly off the Tarutaru.

With a sigh of relief, Yalo used this bought time to heal himself and spring to his feet with renewed vigor. The Wamoura, still trying futilely to hurt the Tarutaru, decided to try spitting magma again. But Yalosraf had learned his lesson, and he dove under the attack and right into the thing's abdomen, daggers leading the way. He stabbed the Wamoura several times before it finished blasting the wall, and then hooked a dagger into the side of the abdomen and swung himself up on top of it, coming down face first and digging the other dagger into the other side. The Wamoura shrieked in pain again and thrashed wildly, but Yalo held on for dear life, holding the abdomen in a wicked embrace, digging the daggers even deeper as his feet flailed in the air.

Steam and interstitial fluid poured from several holes in the Wamoura's body and face, a wing was shredded, and it was nearly blinded with pain, but it didn't stop thrashing, and Yalo had few apparent options. He gritted his teeth against the oncoming dizziness and braced himself, then removed the daggers and was sent flying through the air. He landed in a roll and was quickly up on his feet, turning to face the crazed beast that was already coming after him. Even with half its wings usable and such terrible injuries, it came quickly and ferociously, and Yalosraf barely had time to jump out of the way as it charged. Not missing a beat, it turned, charged, and forced the Tarutaru into a desperate dodge again, and again, and again.

Finally Yalo tripped over himself and landed on the ground once more. He rolled over to see his doom fast approaching in the form of a giant fire moth thing gone berserk. The Wamoura swooped down for the last time, ready to descend on Yalo and tear him apart. But for some reason it missed; there was a loud _crack_ and the beast flew over Yalo and crashed into the ground several feet above his head. Both Yalo and the Wamoura were back up at once. Yalo was ready to fight to the end, but the Wamoura ignored him and started for another foe, a Qiqirn mercenary standing nearby. When Yalo saw the crossbow bolt sticking out from the Wamoura's back, he understood.

Blinded by rage, the Wamoura swooped down at the Qiqirn with a hiss, but all it found was a little bomb that exploded in its face. The weak explosion didn't harm the Wamoura much but did distract it, and when the beast regained its composure the fleeing Qiqirn was already halfway across the square. As the winged beast turned to pursue, it heard the final strings of an incantation from behind and was suddenly pummeled by magical streams of water from all sides. Hissing and steaming, it was all the Wamoura could do to stay in the air. Meanwhile Yalo was already reciting a second spell, and as he finished, magical spikes of electricity appeared all over his body.

Before the Wamoura could stabilize itself, it was sent crashing to the ground by a small form that leapt onto its back, stabbing and slicing like mad, with sparks flying and enchanted daggers spewing water and steam everywhere. Yalo didn't stop until he had unleashed his hatred and fury to the point where he could barely lift his daggers anymore. He was exhausted and badly burned and hardly able to function, but he knew it wasn't over yet. The Wamoura, even if all it could do was lay there and twitch pathetically, was still breathing. Yalo stuck his daggers into the back of the thing's head, then with one final burst of adrenaline jumped up and stomped on them as hard as he could, digging both daggers down into its brain. When he wrenched them back out again, the Wamoura was no longer breathing.

Across the square, Shurt, who had been keeping an eye on Yalo's battle while fighting a troll, quickly jumped away, sheathed his sword, and ran over to the Tarutaru, who was now struggling to remain standing. Yalo managed to get one sentence out, through ragged breaths, before he simply collapsed: "I… _hate_… Wamouras."

Shurt, running again, scooped Yalo up in one arm and with the other gulped down a strange white drink much like Yalo's. As soon as he finished drinking, Shurtugal's speed doubled, and he sprinted up the nearest stairs and all the way to the other side of the city, where he found an abandoned shop to hide Yalo in. Back at the square, the troll was still staring where the golden blur had gone, until a painful whack at its side reminded it that it had other foes to worry about.


	2. Shurtugal

At the abandoned shop, Shurt laid Yalo down behind the counter, then concentrated and began chanting. He sent his most powerful healing magic into the limp Tarutaru, who stirred and managed to open one eye.

"Thanks, bud" mumbled Yalo, still weakened from his knockout.

"You stay here and recover, little man," Shurt replied. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the sound of a heavily armored troll approaching below. When he turned back to Yalo, a devilish grin was spreading on his face. "And I'll protect you!"

Shurtugal moved out of the shop to crouch behind the small wall overlooking the stairs. He peeked over and saw a troll hoplite ambling up them. The troll was intent on another adventurer it was chasing, and was about to pass right below Shurt.

Without hesitation Shurt vaulted over the wall, aiming to land just in front of the troll. As he fell, he used both arms to smash his shield onto the thing's head as hard as he could, producing a loud _clang_ and practically knocking the huge beastman over. But of course that was his intent, and after landing, he quickly jumped up, kicked both feet into the troll's chest, and fell onto his back as the troll went over, producing another resounding _clang_ as it hit the ground.

Shurtugal sprang to his feet and immediately climbed up to stand on top of the beastman, drawing his sword and planning to end it quickly with a stab in the throat. He readied himself for the killing thrust, and then an explosion blasted him into the wall and he crumpled to the ground. Alas, it was never that easy in this world.

Not too hurt but very confused, Shurtugal picked himself up, but threw himself down again behind the fallen troll hoplite as he saw the source of the trouble and another shell went whizzing over his head. The shell exploded on the wall, spraying chips of stone everywhere. A short distance away a troll cannoneer began reloading its gun for a third shot.

"Blast!" he exclaimed, in a harsh whisper. "Why'd you have to make so much noise?" he asked of the hoplite, which was still lying upside down on the stairs and having quite a hard time getting up. Shurt peeked again at the cannoneer; it still had its sights set his way. "You're going to have to wait," he informed the hoplite.

He ran out from behind the fallen troll and at the same time cast a quick spell at the cannoneer. A brilliant light flared up in front of its face, temporarily blinding it. In its confusion it hesitated, and by the time its vision cleared Shurt was nowhere to be seen. Immediately a sharp pain in its backside told it where Shurt had gone. It quickly put away its gun and turned with a sweeping punch, which Shurtugal ducked. It followed up with a quick straight jab, and Shurt held up his shield to block. Although he slid back several feet and nearly toppled with the huge force, he laughed.

"Come on! I could do this all day!" he taunted. Frustrated, the troll pulled out its gun again and fired at Shurt, who rolled sidelong to get out of the way. He began to run around to flank the troll again, but as he looked behind the thing he thought better of it. Instead, he squared himself off in front of the cannoneer, safe from the charging hoplite that now came up behind it, and braced himself for whatever would come next.

The cannoneer already had its gun reloaded; it was well trained in this respect. But perhaps it was not so well trained in other respects. That gave Shurt an idea. As the troll lined up another shot, Shurt exploded into motion, diving through the beastman's legs and casting again the blinding spell. Then he stood and shouted at the top of his lungs. The stupid troll spun and fired where the sound had come from, nailing its ally the troll hoplite right between the legs and knocking them out from under it. With another huge _clang_ the hoplite hit the ground again, and Shurt laughed again, surprised at how well his trick had worked.

"This is just not your day, old buddy," he said to the hoplite. The angry troll swiped at him with its mace, forcing him into a quick leap with which he barely cleared the weapon. That gave Shurt another idea. He whacked the fallen troll several times on the helmet, just to anger it as much as possible. Then instinctively he ducked and moved backwards through the cannoneer's legs, barely dodging another blast from its gun. As quickly as he could, he pulled out another strange white drink and gulped it down. This one magically enhanced all his movements, not just his sprinting.

"_Alright!_" he growled, wiping his mouth with the back of his gauntlet. He threw the empty bottle at the cannoneer, which was reloading once more. Behind it, the hoplite rose to its feet again. "Time for some fun!"

The cannoneer snarled and spun around to face Shurt again, but the man was no longer there. It recalled a similar incident not long ago, and braced itself for a stab in the behind. What it got was an explosive blow to the small of its back that produced an audible _crack_, and with that the cannoneer fell forward and lay very still. Meanwhile Shurt, laughing again, still dodged and weaved to avoid the thrashing troll hoplite. Shurt's hunch was right: the trolls were not trained to fight together; they were only trained to fight. When the cannoneer had spun on him, Shurt had run around and jumped onto its back, falling off again just in time to dodge a mighty swing from the troll hoplite, which of course is what crumpled the cannoneer.

But now Shurt was back at his original problem, and he suddenly regretted letting the unarmored troll fall first. Making a quick scan of the hoplite's armor, he noted a few areas that the armor did not cover: some toes, the fingers, the elbows, and the throat. As he continued to dodge and weave, a plan began to form in his mind.

After dodging a particularly heavy swing, Shurt stepped in and stabbed the troll's exposed skin on its foot as hard as he could. The troll growled, glared at Shurt with pure rage in its expression, but then gave a powerful stomp and seemed to regain its self-control. Shurt made sure to scramble back out of reach. The troll's foot was bleeding, but otherwise the act seemed only to make the troll more dangerous.

"Oh, balls…" muttered Shurt. Worse yet, he could feel his hastening magic wearing. He looked at the giant spiked mace again, and suddenly wasn't so sure he could keep this up all day. But that only meant he had to end it now! He shook his head, clearing any thoughts of self-doubt. "Let's try _this_, then!"

Shurt whacked the troll on the chest plate once for good measure then dived out of the way of the incoming mace. He went to the troll's side this time, and swiftly stabbed the troll in the elbow, pushing the sword in as deep as he could before the troll turned around. The hoplite roared in agony and spun on Shurt, and Shurt dived out of the way again, forced to leave his sword behind, half buried in the thing's arm. The troll roared again and tried to swing its mace, but its arm was no longer functioning correctly, and the mace fell to the ground.

"Hope that hurt!" Shurt yelled. But now they were both unarmed, and the troll certainly still held an advantage when it came to fist fighting. Shurt had one last idea to try. He scampered over the body of the fallen cannoneer, putting it between himself and the hoplite. Then he looked over the hoplite's shoulder and put on an incredulous expression. He pointed and asked, "What is _that_?!" The troll only charged wildly, paying no attention to what Shurt was doing. Shurt grinned; he hadn't really thought that that would work. Instead he cast his blinding spell again, and this time the troll was confused. It hesitated in its charge, and when its vision cleared, Shurt had the cannoneer's gun propped on the cannoneer and aimed right at the hoplite's face. The hoplite's expression turned to one of terror, and then it wore no expression at all, because an explosive shell blasted it square in the jaw, snapping its head back so forcefully that it now faced the wall behind it.

"Ooo…" Shurt breathed in sympathy. "_That_ one hurt." As the troll fell for the last time, Shurt retrieved his sword and ran back to check on Yalo.

* * *

"You have been watching his friends?" asked the first man when his two associates entered the dark room.

"Yes sir, as ordered," the second man replied. The first motioned for him to continue. "They are good, sir. It is a marvel that they are not better known across Vana'diel."

"On the other hand, I might add, they do not seem to have any outstanding accomplishments," explained the third. "As of now, they are content simply to improve their own skills and arsenals."

The first man rubbed his chin in thought. "Are you sure they are good, and not just reaping the benefits of having such a powerful friend?"

"Sir, I just watched two men take down a grown Wamoura and two trolls," assured the second man. "They were not even fighting together. The power achieved when they combine their efforts must be extraordinary."

"This is good," declared the first, "this is good. I believe we have found our men."

* * *

Yalo was swaying a bit, but standing, when Shurt returned to the abandoned shop. Yalo shook his head and looked as sternly at Shurt as a Tarutaru could.

"That was extremely dangerous and completely unnecessary," he scolded. But Shurtugal just laughed in his face. He knew Yalo well enough, and seeing the Taru pretending to be stern was a comical sight indeed.

"I had to protect you," countered Shurt, with a grin and a wink.

"Yeah, well…" Yalo began to argue, but he couldn't keep it up. "You crazy bastard! That was flipping awesome!"

They both laughed, but Yalo's laugh was weak, and now Shurt grew concerned. He studied the Tarutaru for a while, but suddenly the color returned to Yalo's face, and the little man stood up straight and steady as ever. Both men were a bit confused.

Yalo blinked. "Well that was weird… I guess I'm better now." Shurt just shrugged. He tossed Yalo some curing spells for good measure.

"Let's find some more fun, shall we?" exclaimed Shurt, and together they ran off. Neither one noticed the figure watching them intently from the shadows of another abandoned shop. Neither one would have really cared anyway. It was time to fight.


	3. Elvos

"Let's see what we've got here…" declared Shurt.

Shurt and Yalo stood in the main square, surveying the surrounding battle, trying to pick out the most interesting opponent. Over one way, a Serpent General took on a surrounding sea of monsters. Another way, a particularly huge troll was likewise encircled by angry adventurers and imperial soldiers. "Hmm… What do you think, little ma—" Shurt started to ask, but as he turned, he realized that the little man was gone from sight.

Then he heard a frantic scream in the distance: "I got one, Shurt!" Shurt looked to see a giant scorpion chasing a Qiqirn mercenary, and Yalo holding desperately onto the scorpion's tail. When the scorpion came upon a bomb left by the Qiqirn just in time to be blasted in the face, it flew into a wild rage, thrashing poor Yalo all over.

"Hold on, little man!" Shurt yelled and began chasing after the beast.

Suddenly the scorpion stopped its thrashing and paused to rest, breathing heavily. Yalo fell to the ground and did the same, but the scorpion, hearing the Taru, promptly turned on him, hissing angrily. Yalo sprang to his feet, daggers drawn, but the Taru with his tiny weapons was a pitiful sight indeed against the huge scorpion with its poisonous spear-like claw-legs, its powerful mandibles, its thick natural armor, and its deadly tail spikes, which alone were about the size of Yalo. The creature reared its head back, ready to strike, and Yalo braced himself as the scorpion's head snapped forward and its jaw shattered as Shurt came flying shield-first right over Yalo and into the scorpion's face.

His momentum completely cancelled out by the collision, Shurt dropped, landing right on top of Yalo. Yalo grunted, managed to drag himself halfway out from under Shurt, and threw a quick dark magic spell at the scorpion, which was still hardly moving, stunned as it was from the collision. Yalo's spell landed and the scorpion went promptly to sleep.

"You bastard! I totally had that," Yalo grunted sarcastically, trying to pull himself out from under Shurt. Shurt rolled himself off, chuckling at the whole ordeal. They got up, brushed themselves off, and turned to face the snoring creature.

"Y'know, this nasty scorp tried to kill my little friend," Yalo declared in an accusing tone.

"The Qiqirn?" asked Shurt, and Yalo nodded. "Wait… little?" He studied the Tarutaru skeptically. The Qiqirn was certainly the taller of the two.

Yalo punched Shurt's shin. "You know what I mean!"

Shurt looked back at the beast. "Well, this nasty scorp is gonna regret that. Wake up, you puny insect!" whacked the creature right on its broken jaw with the flat of his blade, drawing a screech of pain and fury as it suddenly snapped back to awareness. It lunged at Shurt, attacking with its forward legs that doubled as claws, but Shurt deftly deflected the blows with little movements of his shield. It was rather like defending against an unthinking and unskilled, albeit powerful, swordsman.

"Puny?!" came the incredulous cry from Yalo, who was backing off to stand a ways behind Shurt. He sheathed his daggers and reached back to pull a long staff tipped with an icy blue crystal sphere seemingly out of nowhere.

"You know what I mean!" Shurt glanced over his shoulder at the Tarutaru between blocks and did a double take. "Where the hell did you just get—oh, forget it. _Whoa!_" He had turned to face the scorpion again just in time to duck a vicious thrust from its barbed tail, which was aimed straight for his head.

"_Bad_ scorpion! One _never _thrusts to five!" scolded Shurt mockingly, as he continued to deflect blows from the claws. He whacked the scorpion in the face again, causing another pained screech, but he couldn't hope to do much more under the near-constant barrage of swipes. "Enfeeb this thing, would ya?" he requested of Yalo.

"On it!" Yalo finished casting his first enfeebling spell and two swirling rings of flashy yellow spheres surrounded and converged on the scorpion, which would now have some difficulty moving as intermittent pangs of paralysis shot through its body. Each time the scorpion stalled, Shurt attempted to slice at it, though the brief pauses were not much better than before. Yalo continued with his casting, this time summoning a single ring of bluish spheres that circled the creature and then slowed and became violet before fading away. The movements of the scorpion slowed along with the effect as the spell warped space-time in its small area. Finally, Yalo summoned a ring of yellow-orange spheres around Shurt that enacted the reverse effect, hastening Shurt's movements in time.

"Now we're talking!" exclaimed Shurt with glee. He proceeded to strafe around the scorpion, blocking the occasional stab from the creature and slicing it at every opportunity he saw. The creature's armor was exceedingly thick, but Shurt focused on the weak points, especially the joints where the legs met the body, and Yalo further weakened it through various magical means. Before long, the creature was backing frantically away from Shurt, trying to keep the painful spots out of his reach. "Get back here, you!" Shurt snarled as he tried to keep up.

"I gotcha, buddy!" exclaimed Yalo, summoning a dark swirling vortex that converged on the scorpion, causing it to slow drastically and drag its legs as gravity strengthened its hold on the creature.

"Much better!" cried Shurt, and he dashed in for the kill. As soon as he got within range, the scorpion spewed icy breath all over Shurt, who pulled up his shield to block the latter half of the stinging cold air. He lunged at the scorpion again but nearly fell on his face as he discovered that his legs were frozen fast to the ground. The scorpion backed out of reach, hissing and swinging its tail threateningly. Yalo quickly cast a binding spell of his own on the scorpion, rooting it in place a short distance from Matt.

"Have it your way!" he called to the creature with a chuckle, and then threw some healing magic on Shurt for good measure. "Now, wait for it! Aaand…" He waited a moment, counting in his head, and then shouted, "_Now!_"

A good second later, the ice at Shurt's feet weakened and he broke free, lunging at the scorpion once again.

"Bah, close enough." muttered Yalo.

The scorpion let out an awful screech as it saw its doom rushing towards it in the form of a gold-clad Paladin. Predictably, it stabbed at Shurt with its tail, its only weapon still functional, and Shurt merely ducked, then brought his sword up and around for a hard chop down at the joint on its left front leg. The scorpion's armor cracked at the joint and a greenish liquid spilled out, and the creature reared and hissed and retreated as Yalo's bind spell broke, limping on its injured leg.

Shurt stalked the scorpion slowly, shield raised, ready to block the occasional tail swipe, though the injured creature's attacks were becoming increasingly weak. Shurt waited for an opportune moment to charge in and finish the vermin. Yalo chanted, deep in concentration, preparing a particularly powerful spell. Shurt whacked the scorpion in the face again, making it flinch, then immediately lunged in, sword held low for an upward chop that would sever the injured leg completely.

As Shurt brought his sword up, the scorpion's head suddenly shot toward his chest. Shurt flailed his arms in attempt to deflect the unexpected attack, but the head had no force behind it, and Shurt ended up bobbling the head around a bit before dropping it to the ground, for it was now completely detached from the scorpion's body.

"What the…" Shurt straightened and, with a disgusted shudder, brushed off the greenish liquid that had splattered onto his arms. Looking up, he saw a familiar figure standing by the headless creature and wielding an ornate greatsword.

"Ruggzy! Er, I mean, General Rughadjeen!" exclaimed Matt. "What was that for?"

"Hail, adventurer! I hope I didn't startle you. I merely intended to ensure your safety!" He gave a sly smile as he said this. "How goes the fight?"

Yalo finished casting his spell, shooting his arms to the side to unleash his black magic, and a large ice crystal formed around the lifeless corpse of the headless vermin and shattered violently, causing the corpse to flop about before it slumped to the ground.

"Uh…" the Taru stared blankly for a moment before realizing what happened. Then he snorted. "Ruggzy! We had that!" he yelled in mock anger.

"The fight goes well!" Shurt explained. "Some close calls, but that's normal, of course. We don't come near the prowess of the generals!"

"Ruggzy?" the general asked, pulling a face. "Dafuq kind of nickname is that?"

"Oh, that's just… you know… wait, what did you just say?" Shurt eyed the general suspiciously.

The general smiled and pulled off his helmet to reveal a very familiar face.

"_Elvos?!_ What the crap?!" The two others stared at him in bewilderment.

A moment passed, and then Shurt suddenly looked horrified. "Did you kill Ruggzy?!"

Elvos laughed. "What?! No! You think me so evil?"

Shurt and Yalo hesitated. "Well… kind of… I mean, you do act pretty evil sometimes…"

"Yeah, and you sure look it! Well, except when you dance… And when you run… And when you use items…"

Elvos laughed again. "Shut the hell up! No, he's injured, so I'm filling in. Don't tell anyone; it's better they don't know. Now, let's kill some more freaking scorps! I _hate_ those things!" He hefted his greatsword and charged off into the fray, mimicking Rughadjeen's battle cry to pump up nearby allies, who cheered.

Yalo and Shurt looked at each other and shrugged, then ran after him.

* * *

"Sir, they are together now," panted an associate who had apparently just run to this spot at all haste. "Shall we fetch them?"

"Yes, good," replied the man in charge. He turned to another associate. "You know what to do. Go now."

* * *

"You there, throw me your blade!" Elvos demanded, making use of the respect granted his apparent rank. A resting samurai, looking both confused and curious, stood and tossed Elvos his great katana. The phony general, along with Yalo and Shurt, faced a scorpion that stood as tall as he: nearly twice the size of the one Yalo and Shurt had fought earlier.

Behind the three companions could be seen a trail of several of those regular-sized scorpions' corpses, which the three had hacked through with ease after banding together. On slaying the last one, Elvos had looked up and stopped dead. His glare had darkened and his teeth clenched as he declared with venom the name of his newfound target: "_Killing Claw…_"

He had then charged in with a flourishing sweep followed by a dazzle of swordplay as he tried to slash the vermin to pieces, but this extra-giant scorpion seemed a match for him, blocking his strikes with its claws and mandibles and then countering with its own ferocious swipes, making him struggle to parry in kind. This scorpion had tougher armor, bigger claws, stronger venom, and more experience than most, and was not going to fall so easily. Realizing this, Elvos had stepped back, bidding Shurt to hold the creature awhile, and looked around for a great katana.

Now, Elvos caught the blade effortlessly and hefted it, appraising its quality. Satisfied, he took the blade in two hands, held it in front of him, and closed his eyes, deep in concentration. After a few moments, his eyes snapped open, now burning with bloodlust, and he stepped back into the fray.

Elvos's arms became a blur of motion as he expertly sliced and hacked at the scorpion's side, chipping away the armor with the extremely sharp blade. Clearly, he had used a great katana before, and unlike Rughadjeen, he much preferred it over a greatsword. Yalo cast his hasting spell on Elvos and his strikes became even faster.

The scorpion soon identified Elvos as its primary threat and turned to fight him, prompting Yalo and Shurt to cast protective spells on their endangered friend. Elvos was prepared for this attention, however, and dodged the first few strikes as if he knew exactly what the scorpion was planning to do next. Furious, the scorpion snapped its head forward, lashing viciously at Elvos with its mandibles. The sheer speed of the attack caught Elvos off guard, and the scorpion landed a glancing blow on his shoulder as he tried to dodge. Even that was enough to send Elvos spinning backwards several yalms (lol), struggling to keep his footing. Shurt bashed the scorpion with his shield to prevent it from following up on Elvos, and Elvos sprung back into the fight with renewed fury. This time he circled around the scorpion as he attacked, causing the creature to constantly spin to try to find him and hit him. The other fighters couldn't help but snigger at this, though Elvos was completely focused on his target.

After a while, Elvos stopped and allowed the scorpion to face him. Before the creature could attack, though, Elvos hit it viciously with a left-to-right slice followed immediately by a diagonal upward slice. An orb of dark magic manifested to swirl around the scorpion, unleashed by the elemental force in his strikes, as Elvos paused to slowly bring his sword high overhead. Suddenly he tensed and his arms shot downward in a brutal chop, which took a good chunk off the scorpion's armor, exposing softer tissue underneath, and sending the darkness surrounding the scorpion right through the creature, bombarding it further, and then into the ground, where it vanished.

Elvos went immediately from his last position into a powerful upward slash, slicing right through the scorpion's exposed weak spot, spraying greenish interstitial fluid while an image of a full moon faded into view above the creature as a side effect of the elemental force of his blow. Dark elemental magic once again swirled around the scorpion, this time on a larger scale, and then suddenly compressed into a ball about the size of a Saruta orange, buffeting the scorpion even further before exploding and fizzling away to reveal the companions unharmed and the scorpion twitching helplessly in pain. Yalo took advantage of the residual dark magic in the air to empower his strongest damaging ice spell, which now enveloped the vermin in huge ice crystals. This time when the ice shattered, it left the creature frozen solid. Shurt bashed the head with his shield, breaking it off at the neck, and the companions relaxed.

"That is a-one head-a-less scowp," observed Yalo as Elvos tossed the great katana back to the resting samurai, who stood gaping at the group along with the rest of the people nearby. The samurai started when he saw the blade, tried to catch it, and then just continued gaping at Elvos as it clattered to the ground.

"I think you impressed some folks, Rughadjeen!" Shurt teased.

"Little did they know the Skyserpent general is a master samurai!" added Yalo with a grin.

"Erm… That's right!" stuttered Elvos, glancing uncomfortably at the adoring crowd.

Suddenly, cries of victory rent the air from all around the city, and the few enemies who remained in the square turned and fled. The battle was over; it was won! When the initial cheers died down, the people looked to Elvos expectantly, for the generals always gave inspirational speeches at the end of such battles. Elvos paled.

"Uh…" He thought awhile before declaring, "'Twas the strength of Altana that empowered my blade, and that propelled us all to victory! Fight on, good people, for the glory of Altana, the goddess of victory!" He pulled out his greatsword and held it high as the victory cheers roared again.

"Not bad," Yalo offered.

"Let's get out of here," muttered Elvos, eager to escape the uncomfortable attention.

* * *

The companions had not gone far when a man approached them wearing a uniform they had not seen before. It resembled the Blue Mage garb that the Immortals wore, but with shades of dark gray rather than blue.

"Are you the men known as the night shadows?" he asked, in a somewhat urgent manner.

"Whoa! Recognition?!" asked Yalo incredulously. He and Elvos exchanged wide-eyed glances while Shurtugal stared the man down.

"We are the men known as NightShadows," said Shurt. "Why do you ask?"

"I speak for an organization of which you have not likely heard. We have an exceedingly important mission on our hands, and you have been expressly requested for its undertaking. We cannot say much, save that the well-being of this empire, this country, and this world hinges on your success."

"Well shit, that sounds pretty srs to me," announced Elvos.

"Super srs," agreed Shurt.

"Let's do it, then!" exclaimed Yalo.

"It is excellent to have your interest. Please allow me to take you to our headquarters for your briefing," said the gray-clad man. They began following him through the streets toward Whitegate.

"Hang on, hang on," said Yalo suddenly. "There is something I need to do first. Fatass, will you come help me?" he asked, addressing the quite-thin-and-fit Elvos.

The Elvaan gave an exaggerated sigh. "I suppose so, slavent," he replied. He followed Yalo to a fallen troll hoplite nearby, looking a bit confused.

Yalo pointed to the troll's helmet. "I want to give this," he explained, "to that kid over there." He pointed to a Galka boy entering Al Zahbi walking alongside an adult Galka and looking around in wonder.

"Huh? Why?" asked Elvos, though he removed the helmet and hefted it onto his shoulder before waiting for a reply.

"To make his day, I think."

"Oh, you little softy," teased Elvos.

"Shut it!"

* * *

Shurt and the gray-clad man watched as the Galka child put on the helmet and pretended to be a troll, looking happier than a witch in a broom factory, while the adult Galka glared angrily at Elvos and Yalo. They watched as the two adventurer's faces together went from grinning at the child to glancing at the adult to suddenly looking rather uneasy. At this point, the adventurers began to slowly back away from the Galkas, until the adult took a step towards them, and then they broke into a frantic run. They met up with Shurt and the gray-clad man, shouted, "Let's goooo!" and ran off for Whitegate. Shurt and the man simply chuckled and followed at a light jog.

* * *

As the three companions followed the mysterious man through the streets again, Shurt asked him, "So it's just us, is it?"

The man replied, "We have as yet deemed four persons suitable for the task: the three of you and a dragoon of quite similar skill—"

"No shit?" asked Elvos.

"—and similar manner, as it were."

Yalo looked at Shurt. "I wonder…" he mused.

"Me too," said Shurt.

They followed the mysterious man a while longer as he led them past Al Zahbi and through the streets of Whitegate. Finally he ducked into a dark passageway and stopped. Two shadowed figures guarded a door at the end of the passage. Shurt and Yalo tightened their grip on their weapon hilts, suddenly unsure of the mysterious man's intent. Elvos, though, seemed unfazed.

"Fear not," assured the mysterious man who led them, noting their unease; "Had we intent to kill you, we would have made the attempt while you were distracted, and with far more men."

"Heh…" Shurt took the strange compliment with a mumble, glancing at Yalo, who shrugged. "Let's get on with it, then."

One of the guards opened the door and the gray-clad man led the way through. The door closed behind them and the adventurers looked around as they entered a modest-sized room and stopped in the center. The room was cloaked in shadow except for the open area in which they stood, which was dimly lit by the greenish glow of a few magical lights on a chandelier hanging just above them. Peering into the gloom just beyond the light's edge, they could make out what looked like a large man seated behind a large desk, though any additional features were indistinguishable.

"Welcome," the seated man greeted them in a deep, commanding voice, while the gray-clad man took his place standing beside him, "to our headquarters."

"Uh, whose headquarters?" asked Yalo.

"That is not important," declared the man matter-of-factly. "More important is the well-being of the entire world, is it not?"

"Yeees…" replied Yalo, gazing skeptically towards the man. "No craaap…"

"Good, then let us not waste time with pleasantries and needless details. As I am sure my assistant here has told you, we have gathered you four in here for an important mission, the likes of which I am certain you have not yet experienced."

"Wait, four?" asked Shurt. At that, a Hume man with a small blue wyvern perched atop his purple helmet walked into the light from where he had been waiting somewhere beside them. Under his helmet could be seen a shock of orange hair and a face of pale complexion. He greeted their gazes with a shrug and a wry smile.

"Hey, guys."

"_Watoo!_" Yalo and Shurt exclaimed with a laugh.

"Who?" demanded Elvos.

"Watoo! Have you seriously not met him? He's been in our linkshell for years!"

"Is that so?" inquired the seated man ponderingly. He stroked his chin.

"Uh, yeah…" Yalo turned back to the man. "So, tell us of this mission, would you?"

"Wait a minute." Elvos stared at Watoo, then stared at Shurtugal, then repeated these motions, looking increasingly perplexed.

"What—whoaaa, I _never_ noticed that," said Yalo, interpreting Elvos's looks, and then joining him. "Holy crap…"

"Right?!" said Elvos.

"What?" Shurt asked, drawing incredulous stares from the two.

"_You_ don't see it?"

Shurt raised his hands as if helplessly confused. "See what?"

Yalo gestured toward Watoo. "You're twins!"

"What?!" Shurt laughed. "That's ridiculous. He looks nothing like me! See?" Shurt went to stand beside Watoo. Watoo removed his helmet, and his wyvern set to hovering in the air above his shoulder. It was uncanny. They were the exact same height and everything.

Yalo shuddered. "Creepy."

"Ya," agreed Elvos.

Shurt looked at Watoo, who simply smiled again, and shrugged.

"Anyway, what's up? Where are we going? What are we doing?" Shurt asked of the seated man.

"Right in there, actually." He pointed to a doorway on the side of the room. The gray-clad man opened it, revealing a swirling white vortex on the other side. "This portal will transport you to your destination, and all the rest will be revealed to you there."

"Hmm… Should we prepare first?" inquired Shurt, looking doubtful. "I mean, if this quest will be as intense as you say: 'the likes of which I am certain you have not yet experienced'"—Shurt repeated the man's words in a ridiculously mocking voice—"then surely you'll need us at our best?"

The seated man paused. "But of course," he replied. "Go pack your things and rest. Meet us back here in the morning."

The adventurers nodded and set off. When the door closed behind them, the gray-clad man turned to the seated man. "They do not actually need to prepare for this journey, do they?" he asked nervously. "Due to, you know, the nature of it…"

"No, they do not, but we can wait one day, and they already trust us little enough. Not that I can blame them; we have kept so much from them."

"Only because they would not believe us!"

"Of course. Luckily, they are not too curious. They seem to be confident that they can handle any mess they might find themselves in. Not that I can blame them for that, either," he added with a wry smile.

Suddenly a distant explosion rattled the door the adventurers had taken, and though it was muffled by the door, the men understood clearly the Tarutaru's high-pitched roar that followed: "_YOU KS'D US, YOU ASSHOLE!_"

The seated man grinned, but the other shifted uncomfortably. "We shall see about that this time…"

* * *

_The portal goes to Skyrim! Whoa! What?!_

Read on in Adventures in Skyrim!


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